Women and Equalities

Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups

Lord Shinkwin: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of progress made towards closing (1) the overall ethnicity pay gap, and (2) the ethnicity pay gap, for (a) people of Bangladeshi heritage, (b) people of Pakistani heritage, and (c) people of African Caribbean heritage.

Lord Shinkwin: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have atimeframe for closing (1) the overall ethnicity pay gap, and (2) the ethnicity pay gap, for (a)people of Bangladeshi heritage, (b) people of Pakistani heritage, and (c) people of African Caribbean heritage.

Baroness Barran: The most recent data available on UK ethnicity pay gaps is for 2022. The adjusted pay gaps for the most recent 5 years (2018 to 2022) for the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Caribbean ethnic groups are provided below. A positive percentage value for the ethnicity pay gap means that the relevant ethnic group earns less than the white reference group. Adjusted Ethnicity Pay GapsBangladeshiPakistaniCaribbean2022UK born 8.3% Non UK born 17.4%UK born estimate considered unreliable (-2.0%) Non UK born 14.1%UK born 3.3% Non UK born 4.7%2021UK born 18.3% Non UK born 20.4%UK born 9.5% Non UK born 11.9%UK born 8.0% Non UK born 10.5%2020UK born 3.5% Non UK born 22.6%UK born 12.1% Non UK born 20.8%UK born 4.2% Non UK born estimate considered unreliable (3.7%)2019UK born 7.0% Non UK born 20.6%UK born 3.2% Non UK born 16.0%UK born 6.3% Non UK born 11.9%2018UK born 9.7% Non UK born 28.7%UK born 6.1% Non UK born 14.7%UK born 7.5% Non UK born 9.4% Adjusted pay gaps account for a variety of pay determining characteristics such as occupation, age, sex and geographical region. These figures are split into UK and non-UK born as we do not have the overall adjusted pay gap available for these specific ethnic groups. Further data on ethnicity pay gaps is available from the ONS website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2012to2022/relateddata. Closing ethnicity pay gaps requires much wider shifts in society. Our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, set out 74 bold actions to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities in employment, education, health and criminal justice. This includes our comprehensive guidance for employers on ethnicity pay reporting, published last April, which set out best practice on measuring, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay gaps. We also launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Wildlife: Conservation

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the impact of animal population decline in other countries on the UK, following the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 which showed that worldwide animal populations have declined by 69 per cent since 1970.

Lord Benyon: The UK is susceptible to impacts from animal population decline worldwide through global impacts on food supply and the increasing emergence and transmission of diseases. For example, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Pollinators Assessment showed that 35% of global crop production volume depends on animal pollination, while the IPBES Workshop report on Biodiversity and Pandemics showed that over 30% of emerging disease events are caused by land-use change and its impacts on wildlife. Healthy ecosystems are also vital for mitigating and adapting to climate change, thus animal population declines may also exacerbate the climate impacts felt by the UK, as set out in the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment. The UK Government with others continues to support the work of the IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to further understand these global impacts. A recently published report from the Green Finance Institute, entitled ‘Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK’, with direction from Defra and others, showed that about half of all UK nature-related risk comes from overseas, through supply chains and financial exposures. It showed that the combination of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation could lead to major economic shocks leading to UK Gross Domestic Product being up to 12% lower that it may otherwise have been by the 2030s (even lower when combined with climate impacts).

Food: Waste

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of high levels of pollutants in food produced near waste incinerators in Europe; and whether they have any plans to conduct similar assessments in the UK.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Environment Agency (EA) has not made any assessment of reports on this subject and does not plan to conduct any such assessments in England. The impact on food produced in proximity to waste incinerators is considered as part of environmental permitting regulations. The EA is responsible for deciding whether new incinerators in England should get a permit to operate. For each permit application it receives, the EA uses the results of air quality modelling and a human health risk assessment (HHRA) to determine the impact of the proposed incinerator. The HHRA assesses impacts on the food chain. Impact assessments are very conservative and permit decisions are based on worst-case scenario impacts. The EA also consults the UK Health Security Agency and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on every permit application it receives and will not issue a permit if the proposed plant could cause significant pollution or harm to human health, including via the food chain. The FSA is responsible for the management of public health risks in relation to food. In general, the FSA considers that if incinerator facilities are correctly operated and monitored, with the appropriate level of emissions abatement, there should be no impact on the local area in terms of elevated levels of contaminants in soil and locally produced food. Measures are in place to manage the risk from chemical contaminants and keep levels as low as reasonably achievable through good practices and regulatory controls.

Water Companies: Debts

Lord Sikka: To ask His Majesty's Government why OFWAT calculate gearing levels of water companies by using a debt-to-assets ratio as opposed to a debt-to-equity ratio.

Lord Douglas-Miller: It is standard practice for regulated sectors to calculate gearing by reference to Regulator Capital Value (RCV). This is because there exists an RCV which represents costs incurred to date which can be recovered from customers in the future. This approach to calculating Regulatory Gearing is used by Ofgem and the Civil Aviation Authority and is recognised by the Rating Agencies. As the RCV represents the net stock of investment that has been contributed by debt and investors over time, it grows with net levels of investment. This provides the capacity against which companies may raise debt and equity to finance investment programmes. There is no equivalent to an RCV for companies operating in a competitive market. Gearing measured by reference to RCV is a more useful metric than standard accounting measure of gearing in a utility sector because future revenue streams are more certain than they would be for companies operating in a competitive market.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Homelessness: Temporary Accommodation

Lord Shipley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe resources available to district councils in England to provide temporary accommodation for people who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: This Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We are investing over £1billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years to help councils prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation, with a further £120 million UK-wide funding announced at Autumn Statement for 2024/25 to help prevent homelessness.The Local Authority Housing Fund enables councils in England to buy or build housing stock to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. We recently announced a third round of funding, bringing the total funding to £1.2 billion.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hospital Wards: Gender

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to direct NHS England to withdraw Annex B of its guidance Delivering same-sex accommodation, publishedin September 2019.

Lord Markham: NHS England is updating their Delivering Same-Sex Accommodation guidance, and a revised version will be published in due course. It is imperative that National Health Service trusts respect the privacy and dignity of patients. The Government has been clear that patients should not have to share sleeping accommodation with others of the opposite sex, and should have access to segregated bathroom and toilet facilities.As previously announced, proposals to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of patients will be brought forward soon as part of the review of the NHS Constitution and its handbook. Any measures consulted on will be in line with the Equality Act 2010, respecting the rights of all patients in hospital settings.

Pharmacy: Rural Areas

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whetherthey have made an assessment of the impact of rural pharmacy closures on access to primary care.

Lord Markham: It is the statutory duty of every local authority in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas including those that are rural in nature, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.Patients who struggle to access pharmacy premises can access pharmacy services remotely through any of the over 400 online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver medicines free of charge. Alternatively, in some rural areas, doctors are permitted to dispense medication to patients.The Pharmacy Access scheme provides additional funding to pharmacies in the areas where there are fewer pharmacies.

Social Services: Finance

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities about the financing of those in social care.

Lord Markham: Ministers and officials in the Department have regular conversations with representatives of local government, including the Local Government Association and the Association for Directors of Adult Social Services, regarding the costs of meeting the needs of adults who draw on care and support. The Department regularly engages with local authorities, who are responsible for assessing eligibility for financial assistance as set out in the Care Act, to understand the impact charging policy has on individuals who draw on care. The Department also regularly engages with individual local authorities to better understand their financial plans for commissioning and delivering adult social care.

Health Services: Women

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their policy for the NHS to refer to "people who have ovaries" rather than "women" and whether this phraseology has been market tested with women, including those for whom English is a second language, to ensure that it is fully understood.

Lord Markham: It is not Government policy for the National Health Service to refer to ‘people who have ovaries’ and this phraseology has not been market tested. We have been clear that biological sex matters and it is important to use language that recognises the separate health and biological needs of men and women.For all sex-specific conditions, we expect the language used to put biological sex, for example “women”, front and centre, with biologically-relevant information relating to specific organs or hormones secondary.

Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they willsupport any proposal at UNECE’s Working Party 29 in June to re-establish the Informal Working Group on (vehicle headlight) glare.

Lord Davies of Gower: The UK will consider any proposals at UNECE Working Party 29 on their merits based on a range of factors, including the availability and assessment of new independent evidence or justification. The UK government has committed to research headlamp glare to identify root causes and potential countermeasures, which may in due course support the establishment of a UNECE Informal Working Group to develop, amend and implement changes to the appropriate international regulations.

European New Car Assessment Programme

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Euro NCAPabout the criteriaby which certificates are issued.

Lord Davies of Gower: Euro NCAP does not issue certificates but provides motorists with objective information on the crash safety and driver assistance systems fitted to passenger cars. The 1-5 star rating system helps consumers compare the safety potential of different models, helping to include safety in their purchasing decision.The testing protocols are reviewed periodically to reflect evolving technologies. As a member of Euro NCAP, the Department for Transport has a place on the Board of Directors, which meets three times per year and has a role in agreeing the strategic direction of the organisation and approving new protocols.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of cars that have been sold in the past five years are fitted with headlights which, once dipped, cause dazzle to oncoming traffic; and what discussions they have had with Euro NCAP on that matter.

Lord Davies of Gower: Prior to sale and registration all vehicle manufacturers must demonstrate that the mandatory dipped beam headlamps satisfy detailed technical requirements controlling aim and light emitted to minimise the occurrence of glare to oncoming traffic. In addition, the Government recently committed to carrying out independent research to assess the prevalence of headlamp glare and to identify root causes and potential countermeasures. EURO NCAP does not assess vehicle lighting and no associated discussions have taken place.